How to Get Started with Gambling Affiliate Marketing: A Practical Approach
In today’s article, we will analyze the most profitable traffic sources for gambling affiliate programs and present several successful case studies from affiliate marketers who work in the gambling vertical. We will also discuss training programs and teaching materials that you use to learn how to promote gambling affiliate marketing offers to make a profit effectively.
Features of the Gambling Vertical
Every affiliate marketing vertical has unique characteristics, and gambling is no different. When stepping into this vertical, it’s important to understand and consider the following aspects it comes with:
High competition and expensive traffic: The high commissions from gambling affiliate programs attract many affiliates. As a result, ad auctions become highly competitive, with top teams willing to pay premium rates to outbid competitors and dominate the market.
Prohibited activity in many geos: Gambling is considered a controversial industry in many regions, as it involves activities related to casinos and betting that are often banned. Affiliates often have to use sneaky methods like cloaking to hide the true nature of the ads and come up with clever ways to present them. There are only a few advertising networks that allow open promotion of online casinos, and using these networks can have a significant positive effect on how much you earn in this space.
Adult target audience: All legal online casinos enforce a minimum age requirement of 18 years for players. This rule is beneficial for affiliates because it allows them to focus on an audience that has the financial ability to participate.
Creativity: Due to the saturation of gambling affiliate programs caused by many affiliates who promote them across various sources, users tend to develop “banner blindness” towards many creatives that look so obvious. The old-fashioned promotional strategies that used to be effective in the past are no longer bringing positive results. Nowadays, it’s important to rely on creativity and innovative methods to get profitable advertising campaigns.
How and where to choose a gambling offer
When choosing an offer, you have to look for affiliate networks with the best online casino affiliate programs, pick one, and research the program’s popularity in different geos.
It’s smart to analyze the offer in spy tools to see how many affiliates are promoting it and check out Google Trends to see the popularity of the casino game, both globally and in the individual geos you’re targeting.
Often, affiliates tend to promote new, less-known offers from the best casino affiliate networks and make good money from them due to low competition. Either way, you need to consider the following criteria:
Reputation of the advertisers: New advertisers entering the market may introduce new casino affiliate marketing programs with attractive incentives to attract affiliates. Be cautious with these as there might be dishonest actors trying to scam others. Start by working with reputable CPA networks and advertising platforms. Always check out reviews and learn from the experiences of fellow affiliates.
Deposit methods: Even established affiliate programs may have offers with clumsy payment options. For example, some offers might only accept local bank cards, ignoring the fact that foreign banks operate in the country and many residents use their services. If users can’t top up their gambling accounts with such cards, they might give up, leading to a failed conversion. So, advertisers need to use universal payment methods to avoid such issues.
- Withdrawal of money: Many affiliate networks still have rules for withdrawing money that are quite complicated. It’s better to stay away from such affiliate programs and look for affiliate networks where payments are made as soon as you request them or with minimal and specified hold times. Also, pay attention to the methods of withdrawing money – the affiliate network must have convenient cashout options for affiliates.
- Personal manager: It makes sense to work with a CPA network that provides a personal manager even for every new affiliate. The reliability of the personal manager is the key in helping affiliates to see success.
- Promotional tools and materials: Many affiliate programs and networks give you creatives, landing pages, mobile apps, and other materials that can simplify the affiliate’s work and reduce the time it takes to launch ad campaigns.
After choosing an offer, you have to test it. But before sending users to the affiliate program, go through the entire funnel yourself to identify issues that can prevent the user from making a deposit. Make sure everything works smoothly and that popular ways to add money to the account are functioning.
Traffic sources
The most popular ways to attract users to gambling affiliate programs today are:
- Sending spam messages on social networks and instant messaging apps
- Using Facebook and Google Ads to advertise mobile applications
- Working with advertising networks
- Partnering with Youtubers and influencers
- Using SEO
Let’s take a closer look at each of these methods.
Sending spam messages on social networks and instant messaging apps
Sending spam messages on social networks and instant messaging apps is a method some people use to generate traffic. This practice is most commonly observed on platforms like Telegram and VKontakte. Spammers use two main approaches: Manual spamming, which requires much effort and brings limited results, and automated spamming using special software.
How to Get Started with Gambling Affiliate Marketing: A Practical Approach